


Identity

by SaraJaye



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Altean Marks, Awkward bonding, Callback to A New Defender, Episode: s05e04 Kral Zera, Gen, Half-Galra bonding, Introspection, Mentioned parental abuse, Mild Blood, Minor Injuries, Missing Moms
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-30
Updated: 2019-04-30
Packaged: 2020-02-10 03:30:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,423
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18651994
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SaraJaye/pseuds/SaraJaye
Summary: Winning the throne was only the first step.





	Identity

**Author's Note:**

> Voltron: Legendary Defender, Keith/Lotor: Admiration - Helping each other patch up battle wounds, and admiring each other's scars and markings. (Gen)

"Wait."

That boy- _Keith,_ he reminded himself, former leader of Voltron. The one who obsessively chased him before suddenly giving up and traipsing off with the resistance. He's approaching, his hand reaching for Lotor's shoulder for some reason.

"Yes? Do you have business with me?" His tone is clipped as he faces Keith, who's trying to avert his gaze.

"You're bleeding. Sendak sliced you up pretty hard earlier." _Oh._ The truth is, Lotor had barely felt it after the initial sting, but when he takes a look at his forearm, the fabric of his tunic is slashed open and there's definitely quite a bit of blood.

"It will heal itself," Lotor insists, but Keith is already pulling him aside, taking out a first aid kit. "Did you not-"

"Just let me, okay?" There's something in his face that mirrors Lotor's own confusion, neither of them sure why this is happening, but Lotor is quiet after that, letting the other sit him down as he carefully peels the sleeve upward.

The healing salve stings, but no worse than what Dayak used on his cuts and bruises when he was little, and she was nowhere near as considerate and gentle as Keith is being. He wraps the bandage slowly, almost meticulously, pulls the sleeve back down, and gives a satisfied nod.

"There. Just...keep it still for a while, I guess."

"You're hurt, too." It's just now that Lotor notices the mark on Keith's own hand. Keith glances down and shrugs.

"That's just a nick. Nothing like yours." He's right, it's not even bleeding and Keith can easily cover it with a glove. Lotor knows he can let him go and it will be fine, he's under no obligation to return the favor this man just did him. But before he realizes it he's reaching for the salve.

"Hold still." Keith raises an eyebrow.

"Why are you-"

"I don't know. Just hold still, okay?" They're enemies, he reminds himself, he's the Emperor now and the Blade of Marmora is a resistance group, enemy of the empire. But he's tending to the wound almost gently, painfully aware of Keith's eyes on him the entire time. He ties off the bandage, and Keith gives him a tiny smile.

"Thanks."

"Well...thank you, too. I suppose we're even now."

"We already were," Keith said. "You saved my life once, remember?" Lotor blinks. He remembers the moment leading up to his decision to join Team Voltron, destroying the shields surrounding Naxzela, all to spite the witch. He didn't think Keith even remembered that moment, even if the rest of the team certainly did.

"I didn't do it for you," he mutters.

"That doesn't matter. The important thing is I'm alive because of you." The back of Lotor's neck prickles with embarrassment.

"Are you always like this to people who save your life, or am I a special case?" Keith looks away for a moment, and Lotor feels even more awkward. "Forget I asked."

"You saved me. Even if you did it for selfish reasons, you're the reason I didn't die." He smiles a little. "And then you fixed my hand. I guess I owe you for that now, too." Lotor rolls his eyes.

"Are all you humans-" No, wait. Keith's not fully human, Lotor's been able to sense his other half. "Ah, of course. You and I..." He laughs ruefully. "We have something in common, don't we." Again, Keith looks away, though Lotor can see his eye twitching for a split second.

This time, Lotor's the one to touch his shoulder, and Keith tenses.

"We're each only half of what everyone wants us to be. No one's fought harder than either of us to prove our worth," Lotor muses, his finger tracing a scar along Keith's jawline. Keith tenses again, slowly turning to him.

"From my Blade trials," he says quietly. "I kept fighting because I didn't realize what I needed to do. I only gave up the knife because Shiro was in danger. That's...that's how I found out." He gestures to Lotor's facial marks. "You don't look Galra. If it wasn't for your uniform or the fact that we know you're Zarkon's kid, you look-"

"Altean." Lotor nods. "I don't even remember having a mother, but Dayak tells me she was an Altean. Apparently I've inherited some of her gifts, but Father insisted I never learn to use them." He'd never said it until their final duel, but it had been no secret that Father was ashamed of Lotor's Altean blood. Raised Galra until it became clear he favored whoever his mother was in looks, sent into exile until the moment Father tried to end his life with his own hands.

_Finally, my darkest shame can be wiped from the universe forever._

"I don't remember my mother, either." Keith's voice brings him back. "When Dad was alive, he used to tell me she was a wonderful person and how much they loved each other. For a long time I wondered if maybe my coming along stopped that, since she left. I know if she'd died, Dad would've told me so."

Father never told him a thing about his mother. Anytime Lotor asked, he'd get a stern glare as Father commanded Dayak to get the "mewling brat" out of his sight.

"At least your father loved you."

"I've never taken that for granted," Keith says. "I mean, when I found out I was Galra I guess I was a little mad he didn't tell me, but...well, I had a hard enough time fitting in with other kids as it was. Plus if the wrong people knew I'd have spent the rest of my life in a lab being poked at by scientists." He laughs, even though Lotor doesn't see anything so amusing about the prospect.

"And then you risked your life to learn that secret."

"I just wanted to know who I was." Keith traces the emblem on the hilt of his knife. "That's why I'm here now. It's not easy being away from the team, but I can't lead them when I barely know who I am."

And Lotor thinks again of his father's words, his shame at having a half-Altean child, how hard he worked to suppress that side of him until he gave up and threw him away.

 _I'm the emperor now. But can I be an effective emperor if I hide that part of myself? If I don't understand my Altean roots?_ This young man's blood is painfully common, but he grew up with a father who loved and wanted him and was taken by death. He risked his life to understand his hidden bloodline, and he'd risk his life to protect the people he loved on both sides.

No, Lotor thinks, he doesn't see it in terms of sides.

He can't help but admire Keith in this moment. Among the Galra, the harder of a life you lead, the crueler you are as you seek revenge on those who made you suffer. But while Keith is no angel, he still has the ability to care about people.

"You're a strange person," Lotor finally says. Keith shrugs.

"I never claimed to be normal." He gestures to Lotor's marks again. "They're nothing to be ashamed of, by the way. Your father was wrong." His gaze is unusually soft, and Lotor can't help a small smile.

"Thank you. And...thank you for fixing my arm, too." He glances down at the bandage peeking through his sleeve. He's tempted to ask Keith to stay a bit longer, so they can talk. The last time he felt truly able to confide in anyone was with Acxa, before she turned her coat. And Keith was surprisingly open with him, again in a way only Acxa has ever been.

But Keith is packing up his first aid kid and standing, a look of regret on his face.

"Kolivan's going to be pissed if I'm not back soon."

"Of course. Shiro and I are due back to the team soon." Keith tenses for a moment, his eyes sad.

"Tell Shiro I said hi, okay? And the others?" He misses them, even with his decision made to stay with the Blades, he misses his family. Lotor nods, standing up slowly.

"I will."

Keith leaves, and Lotor closes his eyes, touching one of his marks.

_I can't lead them when I barely know who I am._

He steals a last look at Keith's retreating form before he walks towards the Black Lion.


End file.
